At the outset of the Revolutionary War, during the winter of 1775-76, a quiet but dramatic event took place across the northern section of Sandisfield.

It is the most significant historical event to have taken place here.

Cannons captured from the British at Fort Ticonderoga, New York were hauled by Col. Henry Knox 300 miles across the wilderness roads of the Massachusetts colony to be delivered to General Washington at Boston who had the British under siege. This super-human feat of resolve and endurance resulted in Washington's victory without a battle, an early turning point in favor of the Patriots which influenced the course of the War.

This still unheralded "noble train of artillery," it is hoped, will finally join the roster of crucial events and important dates as the nation celebrates the 250th anniversary of U.S. Independence next year.

Another hope is that the vital role played by a group of five Sandisfield taverns (inns) situated along or near the "Great Road" (today known as the Knox Trail) will be recognized.

For several days in mid-January 1776, these establishments accommodated the eighty men hauling the sixty tons of artillery and their oxen and other animals.

The Henry Spring Tavern was renowned

One of those taverns, thought to date from about 1760, was at Upper Spectacle Pond at the "nose" between the two ponds. In 1769, the tavern came under the management of Henry Spring of Brookfield, Mass., when he was awarded a tavern license from the colonial administration. Spring turned this remote spot in the wilderness on a former ancient Indian trail into a thriving business, providing hospitality to military and public figures traveling from Boston or other points in New England to access points all along the trailway as far as Albany.

Most family-run inns at the time were modest affairs, safe places to stay with probably a room or two. Spring's operation was more substantial. Writing in 1885, Sandisfield historian George Shepard said of Spring, "... he was crowded with customers much of the time, frequently having to stable twenty horses."

Although Spring's Tavern was already well-known in the colony, those few hectic days in January 1776 when it hosted the enormous Knox contingent cemented the tavern's place in local lore and nationally within the larger story of the Knox episode.

The site today

In 1979, after a survey, the Massachusetts Historical Commission described evidence of "a large farm site" including a 50-by-42-foot foundation with a 33-by-12-foot central cellar hole. There was a barn, a 12-by-12-foot chimney base and stone walls. Fortunately, the site is now under the protection of Otis State Forest. Ancient maple trees continue to stand - silent witnesses to what happened here long ago. But time and nature have obscured all but portions of a foundation.

The tavern was probably closed by the 1820s when an improved highway, today's State Rt. 23, by-passed the rugged Sandisfield segment of the trail. Better roads obviated the need for inns at 15-mile intervals. In 1829, only three taverns were extant in town. None from the Great Road including the Spring place was among them. The family continued to farm their property into the 20th century. Many direct descendants of Henry Spring and his wives, Orpha and Phoebe still live in Sandisfield, the last intact line of an original settler.

More about the history of the Knox Trail, the local taverns, and an examination of the longest unspoiled section of the trail - which lies across Sandisfield and Otis - will be included in a 250th commemorative publication underwritten by the Berkshire Historical Society.

In it, Berkshire historian Bernard Drew with Tom Ragusa of Otis and myself will review the history of the trail as a military road and specifically that section in Sandisfield and Otis including a documented true survey of the original trail through our towns by Tom. The booklet will be available in time for the Knox 250 ceremonies that will be held in Great Barrington on January 10.

See next month's Sandisfield Times for details about the exciting program.